The world of newspapers had Fleet Street. Finance has Wall Street and Canary Wharf. Big tech, Silicon Valley. Advertising, Madison Avenue. Now, it seems, corporate law has the Square Mile.
Turn any corner in this labyrinth of glass and steel and cranes and luncheon spots, and, nowadays, you can be sure to come across a law firm. Kirkland & Ellis is in the Gherkin, Latham & Watkins just across the road from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Paul Hastings, Fried Frank and more.
And so keen is it on its upcoming move to this heart-of-the-city location that Clifford Chance is expecting to move into its new office ahead of its 2028 lease end, while Linklaters is transferring some of its people to its new office earlier than scheduled.
And, like CC, Skadden is another firm abandoning the increasingly remote-seeming Canary Wharf in favour of a much sought-after ‘EC’ postcode. This is to say nothing of the scores of firms already resident here—CMS, Slaughter and May, Hogan Lovells, Addleshaw Goddard, to name but a few.
And demand is soaring.
In a report, Knight Frank and property consultants Arup anticipated a need for nearly two million sq metres of additional office space before 2042 “to meet rising business demand as the City continues to recover from the pandemic”.
But, with its footfall rising to 80% of pre-pandemic numbers leading to a likely jump in rents, does this migration to the Square Mile make much sense? Sure, there’s a sushi joint on every street, a Pret on every corner, an overpriced gym within metres of every overpriced cocktail bar.
But what’s the true reason?